I think I love this little life.

Just as I stepped outside my workplace gate that faces the Ngong' road highway, a matatu stopped by. A few passengers alighted real quick like they have been Nairobians for quite a while - In Nairobi, matatu drivers don't give you an ample time to board or alight. It's almost as if  they carry you for free and don't give a fuck about your safety nor the quality of their services. Why wouldn't they, anyway, when very few of us call them out? Somehow, we have all normalized this culture.

 
I clutched my handbag real tight on one hand and my phone on the other as we rubbed shoulders with those alighting. I knew chances were high that I was going to have to stand but on this particular day, I didn't mind because I just wanted to get home and rest in my cosy little world. I had also moved to another house that's relatively closer to work barely a month earlier, so I was okay with a few minutes of standing.

You see the way you get into a full bus and imagine every passenger silently watching you? We roast people a lot with my best friend when we are in matatus , sometimes with quick glances at each other and then shaking uncontrollably from suppressed laughter, because our jokes are so synchronized we don't have to explain anything to each other sometimes, we just get it! So I know for a fact that passengers who come on board late get a little scrutiny.

Thursday, the 3rd of July 2024. When a writer mentions dates, you should be ready for some good tea:)

I don't know if Ben noticed me as soon as I walked along that small corridor between seats, I'd giggle like a little baby if he confessed he did. I didn't stand for long before a cute lady with a blonde wig alighted from a seat on my right - it's hard not to notice someone who has a blonde wig on and a really long trench coat, no?

 That's how I got to sit beside Ben, oblivious of the little scene that was about to unfold - the kind you read in romance books and watch in movies. Once I was sitted and a bit comfortable, I pulled out my then 'current read' from my handbag. It was 'Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone.' Barely a paragraph later, I was talking to the good-smelling man beside me:

{Him : Hey, is that Harry Potter?
(I tilted my face a little and my eyes met        Ben's. He looked so excited to talk to me, or maybe he was eager to share whatever he wanted to)
Me: (smiling) Hey! Yes, it's Harry Potter. This is my first of his books and I am loving it.
Him: I am a great fan. ( He went ahead to impress me  talking about that particular chapter - Nicolas Famel, Chapter 13 . He remembered it all - all the characters and the story line.)
Me: (Overly impressed and lost for words) That's so impressive. You sound like you read a lot, huh!
Him: ( maintaining eye contact while stretching out his hand ) Yes I do. I am Ben by the way, nice to meet you.
Me: (smiling while reaching for his hand with mine). The pleasure is all mine Ben. I am Joy.
Him: I am alighting at the next stop and I would love to get to know you better, mind giving me your number?
Me: (blushing) Of course I don't mind.}

We were seated at the back of the bus. As soon as he stood to leave, my eyes couldn't help but study his physiques. He looked so put together; neat hair, cute laptop bag, a casual outfit that fitted him so well - neither too tight nor too baggy. I must have have been looking so lost in him when he turned, somewhere between me and the door, to wave goodbye. He waved! It caught me so offguard he must have noticed me blushing within those few seconds as I waved back.

I put back my book in my bag and lay my head against the window. I looked outside and everything looked beautiful - the sunset, the blinking headlights from cars rushing home from work, the street lights coming to life as darkness set in. I have always loved these little things but the beauty I was seeing that evening had some Ben-effect.

I thought about Ben and everything that could be. His countenance as he talked to me was something else - damn! I could already imagine us hanging out in random locations and reading books together. That interaction was the cutest thing that has happened to me when it comes to meeting new friends - we instantly knew we were gonna be good friends, or lovers. It was so dreamy I closed my eyes to take it all in.

 
I was half-way changing into my pyjamas when my phone buzzed :

{Him: I was scared either of us was going to alight before I had the chance to say hello to you.
Me: It's been a while since I had moments like this. Stars aligned in our favour.
Him: I haven't stopped smiling since I got off that bus. You made my day.
Me: No you did. You made me forget about the shitty day I had at work.}

We talked late into that night. Got to know what both of us do and so many intimate facts about ourselves. We agreed to meet the following Saturday for an indoor hang out, just a day before he travelled to coast for work.
Oh he loves cooking! He cooked us my favourite meal that day and we bonded over it.

 He is so kind and sweet - the type of humans that pick stuff from your hair, helps you to pick things from your kitchen shelves when he notices you stretching so hard for them, throws a sofa blanket over you when you talk about the cold weather amid the deep and interesting conversations, hugs you so tight and kisses you on the forehead as he says goodbye.

Now I can't wait for him to get back from his work trip. He said he has the other 6 sequels of Harry Potter's books and that he is going to give them to me once he is back. He lives not so far from my place and so I found someone to go on random evening walks with. We might stand outside my balcony and watch the sunset together more often. And on the rooftop of the apartment he lives in, we might hold hands and stargaze at night.This could be us on our days off work:

 
He is fantasy, personified!

~Based on a true story~